Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Daredevil #14

Sometimes I confuse myself. I have adored Mark Waid’s Daredevil since the relaunch, yet it is almost always the last book on my stack I get around to reading. If I love it so much, why am I not in a greater hurry to read it? It’s almost like the spectacle of Batman or AvX gets me through the comic shop door, but I need to close my weekly reading with the good stuff.

This issue is no exception. Waid has built a new status quo for DD that is paying dividends. With DD’s theft of the Omega Drive, Dr. Doom and Latveria are obviously angry. Doom doesn’t even make an appearance in this comic, leaving Matt Murdock to his underlings. This showdown was telegraphed back in issue 2. But obviously, Daredevil can’t billy-club his way through Doom’s armor, so Waid throws out a new (and already memorable) new underling in Chancellor Exchequer Beltane. Beltane has a personal, devious, and frankly cruel punishment in line for DD, and it instantly makes him a despicable foe. Doom could really use a competent henchman/2nd banana, so I’ve got high hopes for this guy.

And what a cliffhanger!

Chris Samnee’s art is perfect. Beltane’s outfit is the perfect blend of Kirby’s Latveria and Fourth World. He looks like he walked out of a Prussian battlefield into Marvel Comics. Samnee had big shoes to fill getting this regular gig, and I’m happy he’s handling it so well. Instead of continuing in exactly the same tone as the previous artists, this work almost looks like Michael Lark or Francesco Francavilla. That’s fine company.

Is it at the bottom because it feels like it comes out twice a month more often than not so it can slip by?

And is Waid a rarity that he does almost every issue as a single story and is amazing at the cliffhangers to draw you back for the next one? Sure it's a throwback style, but why does it feel so fresh and great?